There are many guides to starting your own blog out there. In this one, we focus on making how to start a blog easy and hassle-free, letting you focus on what you love the most – exploring and sharing your passions!
The hard way, and the easy way, to blog!
We can let you in on a little secret – it’s possible to spend weeks (if not months) building your own website to host your blog, learning the art and science of search engine optimization, curating your website, and managing social media channels. But all that is in no way required to have a successful blog!
This in-depth guide provides everything you need to know to create a blog that achieves your specific goals, without all the hassle. We’ve focused this guide on the easy ways to blog, though the great tips below will help anyone looking to start one as well as even some serious, veteran bloggers!
Setting clear goals in starting a blog
When thinking about starting blogging, it’s hugely important to create clear goals on what you want your blog to achieve. Matching those goals to your approach means you focus on what blogging does for you, not anyone else. That may be about simply sharing what you love, or creating engaging interactions with others in your niche!
Spending some time setting goals about what you want to achieve with your blog will make this easy:
- Are you looking to share your knowledge?
- Influence the debate on a particular topic?
- Find and interact with others who share your interests?
- Earn some income on the side?
- Or, perhaps make it into a career?
Jot down your goals quickly, and while you’re doing this, see how you feel about them and if they really motivate you. That gut check is likely to give you a good sense of what will work for you or not. Depending on your chosen goal, different approaches will help you succeed – there are easier and harder ways, so read on!
The full range of blogs – from hobby pages to passionate sermons to serious money makers
Blogs can be very simple to very sophisticated, and everything in between! There are millions of writers out there who post articles here or there. Many of them achieve their goals this way, and many don’t. The content ranges from short, chirpy posts to in-depth articles about arcane topics to emotional missives on today’s key issues.
Some blogs have massive amounts of web traffic, and others serve very specific niches – and both can have a huge influence! Many blogs include “affiliate” marketing links, where they earn commission on sales. While some blogs earn large amounts, many earn very little. As a result, it’s really important to have your goal in mind so you can cut your cloth accordingly.
The easy way to share your views and create engagement
At Expert Circle we focus on enabling people who have great expertise to share their views and create engagement with others, and many of our members want to know how to start a blog without building an entire website.
More broadly, this guide focuses on the different straightforward and easy ways to create a blog that:
- Propagates the author’s views on key topics
- Allows others who share the author’s interests to engage deeply with it
- Does not require advanced technical skills
There are 8 key steps to starting your own blog, and we will cover each:
- Explore your passions: brainstorm blog topics that interest you
- Prioritize to choose your preferred blog niche
- Create a quick plan of some initial content
- Start writing – the crucial step to starting your own blog!
- Add the bells and whistles you need to be successful (learn how to do this)
- Determine how and where you want to distribute your blog
- Hit publish and start sharing!
- Keep sharing, and keep writing – how to stay motivated with your blog
Want to know the number one success criterion for blogging? You have to be passionate about what you are blogging about! Whatever your goal, having the motivation to achieve it comes from a strong interest in your chosen topic. 
So while there aren’t many secrets to this step, it’s crucially important. Start jotting down some things you love, and things you love to share. Many people know that “sleeping on” important decisions helps to get good outcomes, and we recommend that for this one! Spending time on this up-front will pay dividends later on.
